1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to compacting and crushing devices and, more specifically, to an oil filter crusher that can be operated by a conventional pneumatic or electric impact wrench.
2. Description of the Related Art
Automotive service centers, including commercial truck fleet service centers, in the United States and other countries change millions of automobile and truck oil filters each year. Retail automotive supply stores sell millions of oil filters to people who change their own vehicle's oil. Oil filters of various sizes and types are known, but an oil filter generally consists of a metal housing in which is disposed a paper filter element.
An oil filter crusher is used to crush or compact an oil filter that has been removed from an automobile or other vehicle after a period of use. Not only does compaction facilitate temporary bulk storage of used oil filters by minimizing their volume, but it also facilitates recovery of residual oil that has economic value. Although many types of oil filter crushers are known, a conventional oil filter crusher typically includes a reciprocating ram that is driven by a hydraulic or electric actuator. When a filter is positioned in the crusher, the actuator drives the ram toward the filter. The residual oil that drains from the filter during crushing may collect in a pan or container. After crushing, the actuator retracts the ram. The crushed filter may then be removed for disposal or recycling as scrap metal.
Conventional oil filter crushers are uneconomical because they typically include, among other uneconomical components, an integral hydraulic, pneumatic or electric actuator. Although certain service centers may change a sufficient number of oil filters per year to justify the cost of purchasing a conventional oil filter crusher, the majority of service centers do not. Furthermore, many conventional oil filter crushers are intended for bulk operation and are simply too large to be conveniently located in a typical service center. For these reasons, smaller service centers typically send their (uncrushed) collected filters to a regional oil filter recycling service, which then crushes the filters in bulk.
Oil filter crushers not having powered actuators are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. D355,425, issued to Weaver, shows an oil filter crusher having a threaded drive screw with a hexagonal head. The crusher is of a simplistic design, with a disc-shaped ram apparently fixedly mounted on the end of the drive screw opposite the end having the hexagonal head. U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,906, issued to ter Haar, describes an oil filter crusher having a threaded screw drive that may be driven using a pneumatic wrench. Nevertheless, its design is uneconomical. Furthermore, although the end of the drive screw is rotatably mounted to the ram, the rotatable mounting appears prone to substantial frictional resistance.
It would be desirable to provide an economical oil filter crusher that can be quickly and easily used by automotive service center personnel. The crusher should be easy to use and unobtrusive. Such a crusher would be desirable not only to automotive service centers but also to retail automotive supply stores, which could offer a crushing service to people who purchase filters from them to complement the used oil recovery services that many such stores currently offer. These needs are clearly felt in the art and are satisfied by the present invention in the manner described below.